AN INVESTIGATION OF THE EXTENT TO WHICH WRITING ACTIVITIES ARE USED IN MATHEMATICS CLASSES

The benefits that may be obtained by using writing activities in mathematics lessons have received considerable attention during the past decade. Journal articles have identified, listed and discussed a number of writing activities found useful in the mathematics classroom. The use of writing in mathematics has been found to help both students and teachers. The research reported here investigates the extent to which writing activities are being used in Australian mathematics classes. Two hundred and twenty-six teachers of mathematics in 57 high schools, drawn from four states, responded to a survey concerning the use of writing in mathematics classrooms. The findings of the survey suggest that writing is rarely used as a strategy for teaching mathematics and when it is used its effectiveness is limited. It was not too many years ago when it was commonly believed that writing activities had no place in mathematics lessons. Recently opinion has begun to change. Presentations have been given (Miller, 1990a; Del Campo & Clements, 1987) and professional papers published (Hoffman & Powell